Thailand's cola conflict leaves Pepsi out in the cold

Thanks to the failure to renew distribution contracts, PepsiCo had its market share in Thailand wiped out by a lookalike brand.

Plastic bottles of Pepsi are displayed on a store shelf on June 13, 2006, in Des Plaines, Ill. For years, Pepsi was the No. 1 soda in Thailand, but all that changed late last year when PepsiCo failed to renew a distribution contract. (Tim Boyle/Getty Images)

For years, Pepsi was the No. 1 soda in Thailand, with a 48 percent market share. Coke was only the second most popular drink there, with 42 percent.

But all that changed late last year when PepsiCo failed to renew a distribution contract. Pepsi's main retail distributor withdrew all Pepsi products from its shelves and replaced them with "Est," its own Pepsi-lookalike brand.

By the end of the year, it became difficult to find Pepsi in Thailand, Reuters reports.

Now, Pepsi has only a 15 percent share of the market. Coke is No. 1, Est is probably the No. 2 brand — with a 19 percent share — and something called "Big Cola" had a 16 percent share at the end of 2012, according to the Bangkok Post.

The catastrophe happened because PepsiCo tried, and failed, to take over the distributor, Serm Suk. When the contract ended, Serm Suk launched Est in Pepsi's place.